A guide to our services

Transcription

1 A guide to our services This booklet is also available in audio, large print and braille.

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3 Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland Losing your sight can have far-reaching consequences for you and your family. But we can help you find your life again. The Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland is the country s leading charity working with blind and partially sighted people. We support children and adults with sight loss and help them to live full and independent lives. As a membership organisation we are dedicated to delivering the services our members need and campaigning for their rights. For a full range of RNIB Scotland services, as well as for information on eye conditions and current campaigns, visit our website at 3

4 Vision Support Services Every day in Scotland, ten people begin to lose their sight. But without support many lose confidence and find it difficult to cope. Our Vision Support Services help those newly diagnosed with sight loss to maintain their independence and wellbeing. This includes: Emotional support at diagnosis. Support and information for family, friends and carers. Information on eye conditions and eye health. Referrals to statutory and voluntary services. Currently, we operate Vision Support Services in a number of areas across Scotland, and are working to establish these in more. We also offer Joint Sensory Services which give practical help and assistance to people experiencing sight and/or hearing loss, including advice on the aids and adjustments that can make life easier, and information on what financial benefits are available. 4 RNIB Scotland

5 Employment and Learning For adults with sight loss who are looking for jobs, we offer: Skills assessment and vocational guidance. Confidence boosting. Training and experience in the latest access technology. Work placements. We also help people already in work who experience sight loss to retain their jobs or find an alternative one. And we help employers to recruit blind and partially sighted people, by providing information in alternative formats like braille or audio and a job-placing service. Our Employment and Learning Centre in Edinburgh and our Learning Development Centre in Glasgow offer training facilities for blind and partially sighted people from across Scotland. 5

6 Education and Family Services RNIB Scotland s Education and Family Services team works with children with sight loss and their families, from the point of diagnosis through to school, college or university education. Our services include: Information and advice to parents, and help with expressing their views to education, health and social work professionals. Advice and support to post-16 year-old students, including information on courses and allowances. Training for teachers, parents, and health and social work professionals. Information and hands-on training on the most up-to-date technological aids. Family fun days, summer camps, out-of-school activities, residential weekends and other social events. Our Parents Place website ( where you can meet other parents, pick up tips, advice and information. 6 RNIB Scotland

7 Haggeye, our award-winning youth forum, brings together blind and partially sighted people (aged 12 to 25) from across Scotland. It allows members to campaign for change, make new friends, discuss issues of concern, and take the lead in determining what activities they undertake. 7

8 Visual Impairment and Learning Disability Services (VILD) People with learning disabilities are much more likely to have serious sight problems, especially those with complex disabilities. Our VILD team works to highlight the under-detection of sight loss and its consequences for people in this group. Early intervention to prevent avoidable sight loss is vital. 8 RNIB Scotland

9 Our services include: Specialist vision assessment while attending our specialised day service and community outreach support services. Developing and maintaining life skills for those with learning disability and sight loss. This can be funded by your local social work department or by using your personalised budget allocated to you or the person you care for (see Self Directed Support). Rehabilitation support for mobility, independent living, skills, and communication. Support and advice to families of children with additional needs at home, and in childcare settings. Resources to support vision needs and inclusive play. Vision awareness and vision champion training in learning disability, dementia, stroke, and other complex needs. 9

10 RNIB Scotland (Edinburgh and Lothians) Our RNIB Scotland Edinburgh and Lothians branch provides a range of direct services to people resident in Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian. These include: Social work assessment and care-management services. Rehabilitation and mobility services for independent living. Income maximisation. Café and drop-in centre. Social, leisure and educational groups for adults and children, including accompanied holidays. Resource centre with the latest vision aids and equipment. Volunteers to help and assist with a whole variety of activities and pursuits in the community. 10 RNIB Scotland

11 Self Directed Support Many people with sight loss receive care services from their local authority. Self Directed Support allows people to arrange such services for themselves - whether from their local authority, other providers, or a mix of both. RNIB Scotland can help people with sight loss apply for their own personalised budget under Self Directed Support, and identify and refer them to appropriate care providers. For further information, contact us on

12 Welfare Rights Service Living with sight loss can entail a lot of extra expense. If you live in Edinburgh and the Lothians, we can advise you on all types of benefits enquiries. Please call or Lothian.benefits@rnib.org.uk. We have recently set up a project, Advice Plus, offering benefit and entitlements advice to blind and partially sighted people of working age (16-64) who live in Edinburgh, Forth Valley or Ayrshire. Advice Plus can be contacted on or by at jayne.armour@rnib.org.uk. It is currently funded until late We can advise you about which benefits and entitlements you might be able to claim, complete relevant claim forms, assist and represent you at benefit appeals, help you register as blind or partially sighted, and refer you to other services in your area. 12 RNIB Scotland

13 Products We supply a wide range of products to meet the daily living needs of people with sight problems. These include magnifying glasses, accessible mobile phones, talking clocks and watches, tactile toys and games, talking bathroom and kitchen scales, mobility aids and much more. In Scotland, these can be purchased over the counter at two of our facilities - RNIB Scotland s head office in Edinburgh and the Forth Valley Sensory Centre in Camelon. Our staff can advise and demonstrate products to suit your needs. You can also order from our online shop at

14 Campaigning RNIB Scotland wants to improve life for people who are blind and partially sighted. We raise awareness of sight loss issues and work to influence politicians and decision-makers in government and the public and commercial sectors. We ve campaigned for eye examinations to be free, for sight-saving medical treatments to be made available on the NHS, for more books to be published in audio and braille, for disability benefits to be protected under welfare reforms, and more Guided by our members, we give a strong campaigning voice to the needs of people with sight loss. 14 RNIB Scotland

15 Prevention and community engagement We are also working to combat preventable sight loss, especially among those communities where the eye-health message is least heard. People from some ethnic minority groups, for instance, can be more vulnerable to some sight loss conditions. We are working to more closely engage with these communities to overcome barriers to maintaining good eye-health, and to bring them into the mainstream of provision. We know, too, people in the most socially deprived parts of Scotland are least likely to have regular eye examinations that can detect the first signs of sight loss. So understanding the needs of different groups will inform our efforts to reach out further and increase diversity across our services. 15

16 Volunteering You can support the work of RNIB Scotland by becoming a volunteer. It could be from home (for example, as a fund-raiser), within RNIB Scotland facilities (admin work, IT trainer, day services assistant), or out in the community (gardener, driver, befriender). It need only be for a few hours each week. But you can make a real difference to people whose lives have been changed by sight loss. It s friendly, sociable and very worthwhile. For more information, visit the Volunteering section on our website Or you could join one of our Volunteer Fundraising Groups. Visit fundraisinggroups for more information 16 RNIB Scotland

17 Membership As a RNIB member you ll enjoy a package of benefits, including: Our award winning Vision magazine, available in a range of formats. Telephone Book Clubs and other social networking. 300 pages a year of printed information transcribed into other formats free. Meet other members and help to shape the work of RNIB at our regional member forums. RNIB membership costs just 17 a year ( 15 if paying by direct debit). Join today by calling or membership@rnib.org.uk. Remember, the more members we have the stronger our voice is when we negotiate on behalf of people with sight loss. 17

18 Talking Books The RNIB Talking Books library contains almost 21,000 unabridged audio books, including a wide range for children and teenagers. A subscription costs 50 (or 5 a month by direct debit). Depending where you live, it may even be paid by your local authority. Most of our audio books fit on a single CD or USB stick and are sent out in a re-useable cardboard wallet with our address on it. So returning is easy and postage is free. Just return them when you re ready. You will need a DAISY player to use our CDs. You can borrow up to six books at a time and get help with choosing titles. We also lend books in other formats, including braille and giant print. To subscribe, call or helpline@rnib.org.uk 18 RNIB Scotland

19 Transcription Our transcription service transcribes everyday information (such as books, information leaflets, annual reports, magazines and instruction manuals) into accessible formats such as audio, braille and large-print. RNIB members get up to 300 pages a year of printed information transcribed free. We also offer a service to businesses and organisations which want to make their information more widely accessible. 19

20 Donations and legacies Right now we can only reach one in three blind and partially sighted people. Without your support we simply couldn t help people find their lives again. You can help us by making a one-off donation, setting up a regular direct debit, or undertaking a sponsored challenge. For more information, please visit: call: fundraising@rnib.org.uk or write to: RNIB Fundraising, 105 Judd Street, London, WC1H 9NE You can also remember RNIB Scotland in your will after family and friends have been provided for. It could make all the difference to people s lives years from now. Call our Wills and Legacies Advisory Service on for further information, or visit 20 RNIB Scotland

21 Café Tiki We are partners in running Café Tiki, a social firm with cafés in our Edinburgh headquarters, at Forth Valley Sensory Centre in Camelon, and at Gullane Street Sensory Centre in Glasgow. The perfect place to enjoy a quiet cup of tea or coffee and snacks and meals, all three cafés are fully accessible and help unemployed local people with sight loss, hearing loss or additional needs to learn new skills and find work. The Glasgow café also offers free internet and easy-to-use computers. 21

22 Tune in to RNIB s award-winning Insight Radio, Europe s first radio station for blind and partially sighted listeners. We broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All of our presenters are visually impaired. You can listen to Insight on: Satellite television on Freeview Channel 730. If you have satellite television, you can listen on Freesat 777 or Sky Channel 0188 (you don t need to be a Sky subscriber but you will need a set-top box and dish). Online via our pop-up radio player. Smartphone on your iphone (3G/WIFI), ipod Touch (WIFI only) or ipad (3G/WIFI depending on the model), and Android devices via Google Play (download our free app on itunes on your Mac, PC or the Apple app store). 101 FM in the Glasgow area.

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24 RNIB Helpline helpline@rnib.org.uk Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland Hillside Crescent Edinburgh EH7 5EA Tel: rnibscotland@rnib.org.uk /rnibscotland /rnibscotland Registered charity number